A Little Less Sixteen Candles
by ang3licstar
Summary: Summary inside. A Meredith/Alex idea that won't let me be. If its not ur style then don't even bother. If your just browsing then come on in. Rating may change. UP FOR ADOPTION WITH PERMISSION ONLY
1. Summary

They were both left by the people they loved.

**"She's my wife."**

**"You slept with syph nurse. You betrayed me."**

They both have secrets from the past weighing them down.

_**Shows Ellis slitting her wrists' in front of a young Meredith.**_

_**Shows a young Alex prying a liquor bottle fromhis mother's hands.**_

As they help eachother heal, something new begins to grow.

_**Shows Alex and Meredith laughing together, hanging out in various places after work and horsing around in the basement of the hospital.**_

**_Christina: "Come on Mer, he's not even in you league."_**

**_Meredith: "You mean married."_**

**_Christina: "Yeah. Duh!"_**

**_Meredith: "Then he's perfect."_**

Just when they thought they had their lives together.

_**" Hey Guess what Alex."**_

_**"What?"**_

_**"I haven't had a drink in six weeks."**_

_**"Woah, this calls for a celebration." He puts his arm around her as they walk out of the OR scrubbing room.**_

_**"I passed, my boards Mer."**_

_**"That's great."**_

_**"It's all thanks to you." Alex gives her a tight hug.**_

Their exes want them back.

_**"I can't do this anymore. I need her back."**_

_**"I was wrong about Alex."**_

Will a mandatory vacation bring back old loves, or new possibilities.

_**"Three weeks paid vacation? Sweet!"**_

_**"Mer, can I talk to sometime?"**_

_**"Alex, you cant avoid me forever!"**_

_**"I sure as hell am gonna try Stevens."**_

_**"I don't know what's going on here Alex... but I want the chance to find out."**_

_**"I'm not like any of the guys you've dated Meredith. I'm wounded, I'm damaged. I'm not Mc-Anything." Alex says, his back turned away from Meredith.**_

_**"I know. That's why I want to explore this further." Meredith says while walking closer to where he's standing.**_

Will they come together?

_**Shows Meredith and Alex dancing provocatively together.**_

Or will their pasts keep them apart?

_**"I was wrong Alex."**_

_**"Mer, I'm leaving Addison . For real this time."**_

Stay tuned to find out.

_**"Alex, don't walk away from us."**_

_**"We have to define what's going on here."**_

_**"Isn't it already?"**_

_**"No, and I'd really like to know what I'm fighting for."**_

On… **"A Little Less Sixteen Candles."**

****

I'm a MerDer supporter. But variety is the spice of life and its good to sometimes breakaway from the cannon. Besides this idea has been floating in my head for a while and if i put it down in writing...well, I just want to see where it will take me. Remember, I am an amateur so reviews and ideas are welcome.


	2. Another Day on Grind

Another day; another shift. Seattle Grace was quickly becoming the best and worst place in Meredith's life. She loved being a surgeon, but she hated the drama and the whoring, gossiping nurses (cough – Olivia – cough) she had to deal with on a regular basis. Walking into the intern changing room; she spotted her peers gossiping about the latest development in her dark and twisty life, and her person, Christina, shutting them up.

"You know, if you're gonna talk about me, at least get the facts straight!" she yelled to the entire room.

The other interns, excluding, Yang, George, Izzie and Alex, had the decency to look ashamed for getting caught. Meredith just rolled her eyes and made her way to her locker to change into her scrubs. Izzie went to stand beside her. "Are you okay Mer?" she asked. "I'm fine," was the curt reply she received. "Mer, you're not fine. First the guy you have a one night stand with turns out to be your boss. Then he's married. Now he leaves you to stay with his wife. You... Are... Not...Fine."

"Jeez Stevens, did you have to summarize her life story so far?" Alex chirped from his spot on the bench where he was tying his laces. "I mean, it's not as if the entire western hemisphere doesn't already know the story. You saying it out loud just makes you a bitch." He finished, righting himself and preparing for Bailey's arrival.

"Whatever Alex, your just still sore cause I dumped your ass." Izzie looked at him with a sneer.

"He has a point Iz," Christina added. "Besides, your not really in any position to be giving relationship advice."

"And you are?" Izzie snarked back.

While all this was going on Meredith quietly changed into her scrubs and dragged Alex to the side, an event that did not go unnoticed by the others.

"Thanks for getting her off my back Alex, I really don't need to deal with it this early in the morning."

"Hey, no problem. You okay after last night?" He asked slightly concerned.

"I'm fine, it was what I needed. I'm just glad that I could be there for you. Ar you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks ya'know?"

Alex scooped up Meredith in a quick tight hug, which she quickly reciprocated before they both broke it off and moved to grab their stethoscopes.

Before any of their peers could question what just happened, Bailey entered the room. "Grey, Karev, Stevens, Yang, O'Malley. Rounds. NOW."

Off to the grind.


	3. Is Nobody Professional Anymore?

**Disclaimer: I forgot to state in the summary that I own nothing of substace. Do not sue. I just came up with the script.**

* * *

By the time rounds were finished, everyone had heard about the exchange between Meredith and Alex. There was one question on everyone's mind, "What exactly happened last night?" of course the gossip mill was working overtime on trying to find out, but the two parties involved paid no attention to this and focused on their work.

After being handed their assignments and scattering to the various departments of the hospital, Meredith found herself in the cafeteria with a coffee and pen, trying to finish the mountain of post-op notes she was given by her resident, which happened to be Burke that day.

"What the hell was that about?" suddenly a familiar voice broke her concentration.

"Christina?" Meredith looked up startled.

Christina had barrelled her way through the cafeteria and dropped her stack of charts on the table in front of Meredith, not even bothering to take a seat yet.

"What was with that whole exchange between you an Evil Spawn?"

"It was nothing; can't I talk to a friend in private anymore?"

"Not in this hospital, you know that. Are you and Evil Spawn doing the dirty horizontal?"

"No. We're just friends. Besides, we're both going through a hard time right now so we hang out more than we used to."

"You could've called me to meet you a Joe's you know. Besides, I can't imagine Alex being all that much fun to hang around with."

"Well he is. It's not the first time Alex and I have hung out together. And besides, I kind of promised Alex that I would back off on the drinking."

"You what?!"

"Yeah, well he had to promise to back off on the whoring."

"Two impossible people, promising impossible things. Losing McDreamy has seriously gone to your head."

"I am getting over Dr. Shepherd. I'm not going to let my life and careers revolve around that man."

As the conversation continued Izzie and George made their way to the table. Izzie looked anything but happy, and George was wearing a wary look on his face.

"So Mer, want to tell us what's up?" Izzie started with a glare.

"Izzie, don't start. Just because you live with me and were a total bitch to Alex doesn't give you the right to question or dictate my private life." Meredith stated in a voice that clearly showed how cheesed she was geting.

"Damn, I think I like the new sober Meredith." Christina said impressed.

"So youre sleeping with him?" Izzie said not backing down.

"No. GOD!!" she screeched getting frustrated. She slammed her charts on the table and got up looking all of them directly in their eyes.

"It was paintball. Alex and I were feeling depressed about the last few weeks so we went to an arcade and played paintball. That's why I'm sore and that's why he was concerned. Now take that info and shove it up your asses. Some of us have work to do." She all but yelled while gathering her stuff and storming out of the cafeteria, leaving a trail of eyes and murmurs in her wake.


	4. Trust

While Meredith was busy dodging Hurricane Izzie, Alex was dealing with another thorn. He had been assigned to the male Shepherd for the day. After what he did to Meredith, Derek really wasn't on Alex's list of tolerable people. And right now, he really wanted to punch He-Shepherds lights out.

" Dr. Karev, did you check on all the patients I asked you to?"

"Yes Dr. Shepherd and I prepped the patient in 4033 for her CT."

"Good work. Here, finish these post-op notes, then get back to me."

"Fine." Alex moved to walk away, glad to finally be out of the man's company. It would be easier to resist the temptation to pound his face in if he weren't in his presence.

"Dr. Karev," Derek called.

"Yes Dr. Shepherd?" Alex answered warily. Whatever Derek had to say, Alex had a feeling that it wasn't going to help his disposition with the man.

"I heard you and Dr. Grey had an interesting night."

"I didn't peg you as the type to listen to idle hospital gossip. I thought you would be, I don't know, saving lives maybe?"

"It's not right to take advantage of her while she's vulnerable."

"And you would know all about that wouldn't you."

"What?!"

"You know what, whatever man. You're married. You've been married for 11 years. You don't get a say in Meredith life on that fact alone. Plus, you lied to her, led her on and then dumped her after months of sex and mockery. So, if she is vulnerable, we have you to thank for that."

"You don't know anything about it."

"That's what you think. When she finally broke down, it was to me. Not Christina, not Stevens, not even O'Malley. It was me. I know more than you think. So a word of advice, back off. You in her face and in her business doesn't help things. You picked your wife. Stay with your wife and away from Meredith. Now if you'll excuse me, I have charts to do."

Alex stormed off angrily

* * *

Alex made his way to the basement of the hospital to grab a gurney, do his charting and hopefully settle down. Deciding to take the stairs in an attempt to ward off any more confrontations, he quickly made his way to destination. As soon as he arrived however, he saw that somebody had beaten him to the punch.

"Hey stranger." Alex called.

"Hey yourself." Meredith called back. "You charting."

"Yeah, but I could still use some decent company." Meredith patted the spot beside her on the gurney.

Alex took her invitation and sat down next to her. For a while all that could be heard was the scratching of pens and comforting silence. When they were done, they found that they had quite some time before they had to get back to their rez's. Finding the silence rather odious, they decided to play a game.

"So Alex, tell me something about yourself that no one at this hospital knows." Meredith started.

After a long pause, Alex turned to Meredith, " Well, you know how I said that in high school I was a wrestler?" Meredith nodded motioning for Alex to continue. "Well, even though I was good at, I didn't get into college on a sports scholarship. I got in on a music grant."

"You sing?" Meredith questioned with a goofy grin on her face.

"No, no, no, nothing like that. I play the guitar and piano. It was my way of escaping everything else you know?"

Mer totally understood what he meant. "Well, you'll have to play for me sometime," she replied.

"Yeah right, like that's gonna happen." Alex said.

Giving Mer a tiny shove, he turned to her and said, "Alright, ante up. It's your turn. Tell me something about you that no one knows."

"Meredith straightened up in her seat and looked him dead in the eye. "If I tell you this, you have to promise not to tell anyone else. I haven't even told this to Derek."

This made Alex perk up a bit.

"Remember when I said I was the angry girl with pink hair growing up? Well, in an effort to phase me out of it, my mom made me take up gymnastics."

Alex began to laugh. He couldn't picture Meredith doing any backhand springs. "This I got see," he said still laughing.

"Not on your life." Meredith said suddenly tackling him.

For the next half an hour all that could be heard was a deep laughing vice and the sound of squealing. They only parted when their pagers simultaneously started beeping, signalling that hey had to get back to their jobs.

"Your not so bad Karev." Meredith stated as they gathered their notes.

"I know." he answered back with a smug grin on his face.

As they made their way back upstairs to the nurses desk, everyone's eyes were on them as they kept up their playful banter.

Before parting ways Meredith turned to Alex and said, "I swear nobody does any work here."

He just laughed, kissed her cheek and they walked away from eachother in separate directions.


	5. Change in the Air, I can Taste It

The last three weeks had been the craziest weeks in their internship to date. First, Christina had been forced by understaffing to perform a craniotomy solo, while Derek had been tied up elsewhere. Then George and Izzie had to perform surgery on a man that had been fatally shot by his lover for returning to his wife, and said patient was now paralyzed from the waist down because of irreparable damage. Alex had moved into Meredith's house, for which Izzie was bitching double time. When she threatened to move out, spewing one of her infamous ultimatums. The night before Alex was to bring his stuff over, thing came to a head.

_(Flashback Mode)_

"_Meredith, what the hell. How could you?!"_

"_Back off Izzie, I mean it. We are not having this discussion again." Meredith replied while grabbing sheets for Alex's room. "In fact, we weren't having it before."_

"_After everything, you still insist on hanging out with him. Now he's moving in. That's it. It's either him or me."_

_Getting frustrated and pissed off at Izzie's attitude, she turned towards the offending creature and backed her into the wall._

"_Let's get one thing straight, Barbie," she began, "This is __**my**__ house, not yours. It was my mothers and now its mine, which means my name is on the lease, which means I choose who can live here or not. Now, we both went to Med School so I do not have to explain logic. If you want to try and use your childish practices of dealing with George on me, the go ahead, but it won't work. I am sick of everybody trying to control me all the time, and that includes you. If you do not like the fact that Alex is moving in then don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. Alex is my friend and he needs a place to stay. I have one, ergo, he stays here. __**DEAL. WITH. IT**__"_

_(Flashback Over)_

After that Izzie and George begrudgingly stayed, but were being childish and giving Meredith the silent treatment. She couldn't give two shits.

The craziest of events had to be the final blowout between Meredith and Derek the week before during a case in which the patient was a six year old child from an abusive home who came in with head trauma.

_(Flashback Mode begins)_

_They are standing in front of Andrea's bed prepping her for her final tests before she could be cleared for surgery._

"_Dr. Grey will take Andrea down to get a CT scan done to assess the damage," Dr. Shepherd addressed the child's caseworker. "Once that is done she can be cleared for surgery at which time we will repair any damage and send a full report to the authorities and your offices." _

_After debriefing the case worker, Meredith made her way to the CT room to prep for Andrea's arrival. On her way she met up with Alex and Christina to confirm their plans for the night. Alex had given her a lingering kiss on the cheek, as has become their tradition and then all hell broke loose._

"_So, you and Alex huh?" Derek questioned as Meredith rounded the corner._

"_We're just friends. Why can't anyone get that through their thick heads?" Meredith asked then suddenly stopped in her tracks. "Wait a minute. You don't get to ask me those types of questions. Not anymore. I don't have to explain anything to you."_

"_I just don't want to see you hurt," he said as they approached the nurses' desk._

"_Let's get this straight. You're married. You don't get to act all concerned and hurt. Now, this is how it's going to work. I will go on with my life and you will go on with yours. You will not try to trap me in elevators or get personal with me during or after work. That includes asking me about my affiliations. You will maintain a professional attitude with me at work and our relationship will not progress beyond that. Any questions for me can be directed to my resident. In the case that they are personal, they will be kept to yourself. You let me go Derek, remember that. I don't answer to you like that anymore. McDreamy is dead."_

_After that speech she walked away from him to get the patient to the CT room leaving McDreamy and half the nurses standing in shock, the other half giving Meredith a standing ovation._

_(Flashback Over)_

After the past few weeks from hell Meredith and Alex were both praying for reprieve. This was not to be the case. As they changed in the intern locker room, their lockers having moved closer together in the course of a few weeks, Bailey came into the room.

"Grey, Karev, the chief wants you in his office. NOW."

With the telltale whispers of their peers behind them they made their way to the chief.


	6. Time is Approaching Quickly

As they made their way to the Chiefs office, Alex tried to think about what the Chief of Surgery would want with them. As far as he knew, these past few weeks had been relatively quiet gossip-wise. And neither he nor Meredith had done anything particularly special to piss off Bailey. So, for now they were flying blind.

After being let into his office by the secretary, both Meredith and Alex stood awkwardly at the door, waiting to be acknowledged.

"Take a seat," Richard told them. "I guess you're wondering why you are here. Well, let me just start off by saying that every year I try to get some of the best and brightest minds into this program, and every year there are those who stand out from the others. I am looking at two such people right now."

"Pardon me, Sir," Meredith asked dumbstruck.

"Now, Alex, I know that you were having some troubles with your boards and that Meredith here has been helping you study for your make-up test," Richard said. When he noticed Alex getting ready to ask a question, he cut him to the quick. "I make it a point to know everything that is going on in my hospital, Karev, and I applaud you for your initiative."

Looking at Meredith, the chief continued. "And you Grey, have been battling some hard demons, I know. But you've never let it get in the way of professional courtesy and your ambitions. I like that quality in a person."

"So, for the first item on our list; Karev, I've pulled some strings and you will be retaking your exams in three days. I hope you will be ready."

Alex looked to Meredith kind of scared and shocked, but she just took his hand and gave him an assuring smile. Neither of them gave any indication that they each felt the tremors go through their body upon contact.

"Now, onto more important business. Both of you have more than maxed out you're work week hours. The limit is 80, so do either of you want to tell me how you've managed to work 160?"

Both interns gave the Chief a blank stare. "Now, technically it's illegal for me to tell you not to come to work until the scales have balanced. So instead, the hospital is springing for a three week vacation for both of you. No arguments and I don't want o see you in this hospital after your 72 hour shift for three weeks unless you're dying."

With that, the chief dismissed them. As they reached the door they stopped at his voice.

"Oh, and Karev, Grey, when you get back, we'll discuss both of you being my personal interns for the duration of your internship here."

Then he dismissed them.

After they left the Chiefs office, the full weight of the news they received finally hit them. They are in the hallway when Alex and Meredith simultaneously high fived and did happy dances, the nurses and patients giving them weird looks.

"Can you believe it? Three weeks paid vacation? Oh, my gosh this is so exciting. I don't know what to wear, what to pack..."

As Meredith rambled on, Alex just looked at her amusedly. "I can't wait to rub this in Yang's face," he said when she finished her diatribe.

"Come on Evil Spawn," Meredith said laughingly, "we've got to get you ready for you boards."

And Meredith Jumped on Alex's back and he gave her a ride to the nurse's desk where they would find their resident.


	7. The Beginning

First of all, I want to thank all of you readers for you patience. For those of you in school, you know that the end of the year is the worst time to be alive. Thank goodness I have my fics to complete or else I would be going crazy. So, here is the next chapter of "A Little Less Sixteen Candles".

* * *

_**Last time on "A Little Less Sixteen Candles"**_

_"It was paintball. Alex and I were feeling depressed about the last few weeks so we went to an arcade and played paintball. That's why I'm sore and that's why he was concerned. Now take that info and shove it up your asses. Some of us have work to do."_

_"I didn't peg you as the type to listen to idle hospital gossip. I thought you would be, I don't know, saving lives maybe?"_

_"It's not right to take advantage of her while she's vulnerable."_

_"You know what, whatever man. You're married. You've been married for 11 years. You don't get a say in Meredith life on that fact alone. Plus, you lied to her, led her on and then dumped her after months of sex and mockery. So, if she is vulnerable, we have you to thank for that."_

_"You sing?" Meredith questioned with a goofy grin on her face._

_"Let's get one thing straight, Barbie," she began, "This is my house, not yours. It was my mothers and now its mine, which means my name is on the lease, which means I choose who can live here or not. Now, we both went to Med School so I do not have to explain logic. If you want to try and use your childish practices of dealing with George on me, the go ahead, but it won't work. I am sick of everybody trying to control me all the time, and that includes you. If you do not like the fact that Alex is moving in then don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. Alex is my friend and he needs a place to stay. I have one, ergo, he stays here. DEAL. WITH. IT"_

_"McDreamy is dead."_

_"I make it a point to know everything that is going on in my hospital, Karev"_

_"The hospital is springing for a three week vacation for both of you. No arguments and I don't want o see you in this hospital after your 72 hour shift for three weeks unless you're dying."_

_"Can you believe it? Three weeks paid vacation? Oh, my gosh this is so exciting. I don't know what to wear, what to pack...."_

_As Meredith rambled on, Alex just looked at her amusedly. "I can't wait to rub this in Yang's face," he said when she finished her diatribe._

_"Come on Evil Spawn," Meredith said, "we've got to get you ready for you boards."_

_And Meredith Jumped on Alex's back and he gave her a ride to the nurse's desk where they would find their resident._

* * *

Making their way through the halls, they caught the stares of their peers and patients alike. The sight of Meredith on Alex's back, and Evil Spawn smiling like he didn't have a care in the world, was a little more than disconcerting. The gossip mills were going to have a field day with this one.

As they approached the nurses' station, Meredith dismounted Alex and they both righted themselves in time to prepare for their assignments.

"Nice of you to join us today," Bailey started out succinctly, "you may be going on vacation, but for the next 72 hours y'all still belong to me. Yang - you're on pits, O'Malley – Shepherd, Steven – Burke, Karev and Grey – you're with She – Shepherd. Now get to working." As the interns all grabbed their charts, while sending quizzical looks to Alex and Mer, Bailey spoke up once again, "Grey, Karev, I want to see you for a few minutes before you go to your attending." The two interns just gave each other questioning looks as the others left.

* * *

Being on She-Shepherds service wasn't as bad as they had expected. At that moment they were holed up in a corner of the cafeteria reading up on a case where the mother was pregnant with quints and had a heart defect. It was a sensitive case, if anything went wrong they would either lose the mother or the children. They sat in common silence until Alex spoke up. "So, how about Jamaica, or Italy?" 'Oh, come on Alex, we have three weeks paid vacation and you want to go to the clichéd hotspots." "So where would you go?" "How about Aspen, Or Ireland, you've never been there," Meredith stated excitedly, "I could call my family's travel agent and get you a flight out at a great rate." "You're not coming with me?" Alex asked kind of hurt.

"You want me to go with you?' Meredith asked with surprise.

"Going with you where?" Izzie asked as she approached their table with her lunch. She always had a way of finding people who didn't want to be found. As the others came up to follow suite, Meredith and Alex just shared a look and went back their charts trying to ignore the unwanted company. They still had alot of work to do.

"What's going on?"George asked looking on at the scene with trepidation. He saw that Izzie had that look in her eyes when she was digging for information and Meredith and Alex were two of the most private people he had ever met.

"Not that it's any of your business, but we have some vacation time coming up and Mer and I are thinking about going to Aspen, or maybe even Ireland." Alex answered without looking up from his charts.

Izzie cast a wayward glance between the two friends, trying not to notice the jealousy building up within her. She dumped him, she tried to remind herself, he could go on vacation with whomever he wanted; maybe this was just a way of thanking Meredith for letting him live with them rent free. But, she couldn't help noticing how they had been spending inordinate amounts of time together lately, like there was some secret society that only the two of them had the password to. And this, among other things did not make her happy.

Alex, for his part, couldn't care less what Izzie thought. He was beginning to get past that stage, and it felt good.

George was not as innocently blind as people thought he was, he saw what was going on and he knew trouble was coming fast. "Thank God Christina is in surgery," he thought quickly.

Meredith for her part was thinking about what Bailey had told her and Alex before they started their shift with Addison.

**_(Flashback)_**

_The other intern had left and they were still standing in front of Bailey, waiting on what she had to say._

_"Listen, I know you two have been having a hard time, and I know, y'all been studying for that boards test. The chief talked to me so I know that this will be your last shift with me as your resident for a while. Here's a word of advice, forget them. Don't let these fools come between you and your goals. The world is full of Dr. Shepherd's and Steven's. You two just keep your eye of the prize. Now get to your attending before you ruin my reputation. And don't screw up."_

**_(Flashback over)_**

Making a decision, she reached over and put her hand gently on Alex's shoulder. "I would love to go to Aspen with you. I could kick your butt snowboarding" she told him with a smile.

Alex tried to hide the blush and dazzling smile that was emerging from his face. "You're on," was all he replied. Just then, their pagers went off simultaneously and the two interns broke from their semi-moment to rush to the paediatrics wing. Before they turned the corner with their charts, their abandoned friends heard Meredith say, "I'll call the agency and get our tickets ready."

As they departed the two people left at their table were stupefied. George was silent, but Izzie had no such luck. She couldn't help but comment, "what was that all about?" as she looked to George as if he held all the answers. Her voice screamed one thing...

Jealous bitch.


	8. Haven't we all?

**_First of all, to all the readers, sorry for the belated update. Technology can be a real trick, and then my muse died so I was auditioning replacements for a while. Fellow authors can understand what happens when those buggers are all whispering in your ear at the same time, it is impossible to get all of your thoughts straight. In any case, here is the next chapter...hope it lives up to expectations._**

* * *

Alex and Meredith rushed to their patients' room, having left Izzie and George in the cafeteria. When they reached there they were greeted with the sight of their very pregnant patient surrounded by various nurses trying to calm down the machines and get her conscious again.

"What's her status," Alex barked to the nearest nurse.

"She's gone into v-fib, her water's broke and we're trying to ward off labour until Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd gets here," the head nurse informed them as her co-workers continued to work on the patient.

"When did you page her?" Meredith asked joining the fray.

"We've been paging her for 10 minutes. You arrived first."

"Well these babies are not going to wait for her. Where the hell is she?"

"We don't know and we need to move quickly."

"Alex, what do we do? You've clocked more hours than me on peds." Meredith asked.

Alex looked around and surveyed the situation, they had no time, no doctor and things could only get worse. But seeing Meredith look at him with trust and confidence allowed him to think rationally and make quick decisions.

"Alright, I need someone to page Dr.'s Bailey and Burke and keep paging Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd. Meredith you keep a monitor on her brain on heart. We have no time to get to an OR; we have to do this right here. Get me some sterile equipment. Come on people we have lives to save!"

As the nurses all went to work getting ready for the impromptu surgery, Meredith took a moment to really look at Alex. Here was a man who by all means was a jackass, but when it came down to it, he was the only man she could really count on, and had proven himself time and again and that thought, for some reason she couldn't explain, brought about a sudden feeling of peace.

"Are you with me Mer?" Alex asked bringing Meredith out of her reverie.

"All the way."

* * *

Two hours and three flat lines later, Alex and Meredith were exiting the patients' room to the accolades of their superiors. Alex had managed to successfully deliver the babies, all girls, and Meredith had kept the mother in stable condition until the Chief and Burke arrived, effectively leaving her , Alex and bailey to look after the babies after performing their partial first solo surgery. While the group was making their way down to the intern locker room, they caught sight of the Shepherds arguing in the hallway.

"Are you fucking serious?!" Alex yelled charging towards them with fury in his eyes and blood on his shirt.

"Oh dear God," Meredith muttered chasing after him to prevent him from doing something stupid.

"You mean to tell me that while we were saving your patients' life and the lives of her children you were here getting your rocks off by arguing. You could have done that shit in New York and not ruined half as many lives as you did by coming to Seattle."

"Karev, you are out of line." Addison yelled angrily.

"Chief, why don't you take care of this?" Derek asked.

"He's not wrong."

"No, what's out of line is the fact that the entire hospital looks down on my friend, when she already has enough strikes against her, but you and your husband walk around here like your shit smells like roses."

Meredith sucked in her breath as Alex said this, embodying the reaction that the entire floor had to his statement. Bailey looked proudly on at him while the Chief had the grace to look partly ashamed. As he said this he felt his anger increase twofold and Alex made a move as if to attack either one of the Shepherds.

Meredith moved in front of him in an instant and held her arm out to his chest. Amazingly, Alex didn't barrel over her and stopped where he was looking down at her.

Meredith looked into his eyes and a wave of energy they could not describe passed between them. "Alex, you just saved six lives. On your own no less. Do not stoop down to their level. I am sooo proud of you, don't ruin what you just proved to the entire hospital. That you are a good doctor and a good person. Come on, lets go get changed." Meredith put her hand out in front of her hoping that he would just let the animosity pass and take her hand.

Alex took her hand without hesitation and they both began to walk pass the Shepherds. As they passed the heard Addison mutter, "What is she sleeping with him too?"

Before anyone had time to react Meredith did a complete 180 and knocked Addison on her ass.

"Seriously! Seriously? I just stopped him from whupping both your asses and you want to act smart?" Meredith yelled. Addison got up quickly wiping the blood off her lip, ready to retort when Meredith knocked her back down. "That's it. Get back up so I can knock your ass down again. Ta-da Bitch!"

The cheif decided to take charge of the situation. "Alex, get her to the locker room and calm her down. Don't you have places you need to be?" he asked pointedly.

Alex nodded quickly, still stunned by the change that happened in less than two seconds. Meredith had gone from completely rational to ghetto brawls without a blink. It made him giddy inside.

As they were walking to the locker room Alex had to ask, "What happened to no stooping down to their level, uh Grey?"

"Yeah. Well I just don't like the bitch. And I've been itching to do that for months."

"Haven't we all?" Alex chuckled

"And nice follow through, Grey."


End file.
